10 Most Overrated Metal Albums Of The 90s
9. Body Count - Body Count (1992)
Hugely controversial for its time and holds even more resonance today, Body Count is the crossover hardcore group led by rapper-turned-actor Ice-T.
Famed for containing the very anti-police track "Cop Killer", the album was even initially shipped in small, black body bags and was intended to be named after the fire-stoking single, until the record label stepped in to rename it. It was still included in the album and resulted in a seismic war of words between the band, the NBPA, the record label and its owner Warner Bros., against a medley of politicians, including George Bush, Dan Quayle, and Tipper Gore who compared the song's message to Hitler's anti-Semitism. Obviously.
The rest of the album continues as a commentary of the systemic violence and prejudice against people of colour in the United States, but in such a unique way that creates a mist over the actual musical quality of the album.
"Cop Killer" itself recycles early 80s thrash riffs with a vocal performance that still somehow vastly underwhelms, "Body Count's in the House" is metal's answer to "Tequila", and bloody hell "Voodoo" is just a shocker.
Shock value at its best(ish), disjointed and flat at its worst. Not that I'd never say any of this to Ice-T's face.